Redbrick in flats needs makeover

Ballsbridge €3.9m:It's a sign of how prestigious, posh and downright sought-after Wellington Road is that Colliers Jackson Stops has decided that an auction is the way to go for one of its houses.

Certainly auctions have slowed down to a trickle, but there will always be some prime roads with a finite stock of houses that cash-rich people aspire to live on and this Ballsbridge road is one of them.

So the agents are convinced that there will be more than one bidder in the room when it puts number 37 Wellington Road to auction on March 13th with an AMV of €3.9 million.

Number 37 has been in several flats for the past couple of decades, real old-fashioned flats, not apartments.

So it's most likely that buyers will fetch up to view the terraced period house with the intention of completely gutting and extending it to turn it back into a family home - with the necessary planning permission of course.

The redbrick house is not one of the larger houses on the road, which have three storeys over basement level, but it is still substantial with 251sq m (2,700sq ft) on two floors over a basement.

Some years ago part of the long back garden was sold off and a mews house built there - and unlike its near neighbours, number 37 doesn't have off-street parking in its long front garden.

That's a matter buyers might want to consult the planners on.

Even on cursory viewing number 37 needs everything if it's to begin to become a smart single family home from rewiring and taking down partitions to reinstating sash windows to replace the inappropriate PVC ones.

There are some original period details still intact such as decorative cornicework in the hall and an attractive coloured-glass hall window but much is missing, including some fireplaces and the staircase from first floor down to the basement.

A peek from the back garden into the newly-renovated house next door - which features a rather fine looking extension - shows what can be done.